Saul Ingber

Saul Ingber

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Saul was born to a Jewish family in the small northern Transylvanian town of Moisei, famous for its 18th-century monastery, to which many Christians came on pilgrimage. Saul's family was religious. His father transported lumber to several mills in the area.

1933-39: My brothers and I attended a Jewish school held at our neighbor's home. A rabbi led us in prayers and we learned quotations from holy texts. After my schooling I needed to learn a trade, so I decided to become a tailor. Jews were not well-liked in my town. Returning home from work, my father was harassed by several townspeople; to humiliate him, they caught my father and pretended to baptize him.

1940-45: In 1940 Hungary annexed northern Transylvania. I was deported to various labor camps until 1944, when I arrived at Ebensee, a subcamp of Mauthausen. I was digging a trench when a guard pulled me out of line. At first he spoke to me in a friendly tone, but then he stepped forward and pushed up my chin, demanding, "Where's your God?" When I pointed to the sky he punched me in the gut. He repeated his question; I answered the same and he punched me in the face. As I spit out my teeth he asked again; I pointed at him.

Saul was liberated in May 1945 when the U.S. Army reached Dachau. After living in Austria for some time, Saul immigrated to Israel and later moved to the United States.